The Portable Antiquities Scheme announces ?150K research project to study its databas

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An academic panel will advise on the project and a conference in spring 2014 will include papers from experts who will analyse and discuss data supplied by the PAS covering a range of periods, artefact types and geographical areas. These will be published online and as a book. There will also be a Report written by Robbins and Bland which will bring together the results of project to produce a definitive study of the data recorded in the PAS database. This will identify and analyse key features of the data and will define the best ways to present the data, with their inherent biases, in a transparent fashion.
This will be a British Museum Research Paper available in print and online. In addition, guidance for researchers on how to interpret the spatial distribution of PAS data will be developed on the PAS website, besides articles in popular magazines and two peer-reviewed journals.

Just imagine coming out of university trowel in hand sorry phd (sorry uncompleated collabarative pdh)and landing this baby. What I dont undersatnd is why is this being done "in house". Isnt all the data freely available to anybody to interpretate in any way they want. Why does it need some official hand and ?50K a year for three years, but then this is the transparant world of secondments between the department of media sport and culture and The Britsish muusuleum, presumably who ever funds the PAS (is it a lottery) and now some factors called Unilever

There is an urgent need to understand in greater detail the factors that influence the geographical distribution of the data and the relationships between collection practice, artefact type and space. The project will therefore
answer the question: what underlying factors govern the spatial distribution of finds recorded by the PAS?

Just what is so urgent about what underlying factors.

Just thinking out allowed what if they, whoever that might be, had set up a compertition: ?150 k to the best urgent answer to what underlying factors govern the spatial distribution of finds recorded by the PAS. Would it have generated anything better?

Not really the done thing but this is. oh theres an academic panal, advice and a conference